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SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – You’ve probably noticed new retail businesses in town: Crumble Cookie, Boot Barn and Aldi, to name a few. We plan to measure Sioux City’s overall business health, but accurate metrics are difficult to come by.
KTIV spoke with officials in private business, real estate and local government to find out how Sioux City businesses are doing.
Think about it this way: Every big retailer you can think of has been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic. But now that we’re on the back foot of the pandemic, all these companies are rushing to claim retail space that hasn’t been booked yet.
For now, it’s good news for business in Sioux City. New stores like Crumble Cookies, HOTWORX and Fazoli’s give consumers more options than they had before the pandemic, Chris Bogenrief said.
“I would say overall health, but our local economy is very strong and has been very strong throughout the pandemic,” said Chris Bogenrief, president of NY United Commercial Real Estate.
The resurgence of retail businesses may soon hit a brick wall, largely due to lack of space.
“They have filled unmet needs and vacancies in the last two years. But what they haven’t seen is a lot of retail development, as construction costs have gone through the roof due to supply chain issues.
City officials say they don’t keep a list of active businesses, making it difficult to calculate how many businesses Sioux City has gained or lost. Officials said the city will not take on new businesses, but will seek and encourage new development.
“Yeah, with the growth that’s going on here, you’re going to see some new, some new malls, they’re going to look a little different, you know, they’re not going to be big malls. But in the next couple of years, you’re going to see some new developments happen,” said Marty Dougherty, economic development director for the city of Sioux City.
Crumbly Cookies is one of these new retailers. With 600 stores, they chose Sioux City for a new location opening this September.
“Almost every day, we had customers come in to Sioux City to come to Sioux City. So we went down and checked out the market. We liked the research we saw and found a great location right here next to Stone Brew, and we decided we couldn’t pass it up,” said Colby Wilson, area manager for Crumble Cookies.
Bogengriff said the health of a small business can be more difficult to assess. But his company’s research showed that many businesses here in Sioux City were open instead of closed during the pandemic.
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